The Ringtheater was a popular theater in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It was located in the First District (Bezirk

Bezirk

Bezirk means "district" in German and can refer to:* The primary Subdivisions of East Germany from 1952* The districts of Austria* Some of the Districts of Switzerland...

 I), Schottenring 7. It was destroyed in a fire in 1881, and today the site is the federal headquarters of police for Vienna.

Construction

The Ringtheater was built between 1872 and 1874 by Heinrich von Förster, following plans by Emil Ritter. It opened on January 17, 1874, under the direction of Albin Swoboda, Sr.

Albin Swoboda, Sr.

Albin August Heinrich Emil Swoboda was an Austrian operatic tenor, actor, and opera director of German birth. One of the most famous opera singers of the "Golden Age" of Viennese operetta, he was a leading tenor and dramatic stage actor at the Theater an der Wien from 1859-1878...

 as an 'Opéra Comique', antithetical to the "seriousness" of the Vienna State Opera

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

, then called the Court Opera ('Hofoper'). However in September 1878, the focus was shifted to spoken plays, German and Italian opera and variety

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

, and the name was changed to the "Ringtheater".

The Ringtheaterbrand

Given that the footprint of the theatre was small—and the theatre was intended to hold an audience of 1700—the architect was forced to build high, but with disastrous consequences. On December 8, 1881, a fire broke out shortly before a performance of Les contes d'Hoffmann

Les contes d'Hoffmann

Les contes d'Hoffmann is an opéra by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on short stories by E. T. A...

. The "Ringtheaterbrand" ("Ringtheater Fire") totally destroyed the theatre, and killed at least 384, according to official figures. (The following year, a new law was passed, regarding the outfitting and safety provisions, including safety curtain

Safety curtain

A safety curtain is a fire safety precaution used in large proscenium theatres. It is usually a heavy fibreglass or iron curtain located immediately behind the proscenium arch. Asbestos-based materials were originally used to manufacture the curtain, before the dangers of asbestos were discovered...

s, outwards-opening doors and fireproofing of the set).

The site after the fire

A so-called 'Sühnhaus' was built on the site of the Ringtheater out of the Emperor's private funds; it was a private residence, which supported worthy causes. This was badly damaged in 1945 and eventually fell down in 1951; between 1969 and 1974, an office block was erected on the site, in which the federal headquarters for police in Vienna and the general inspectorate of the federal security guards, and the now police commandos are housed. The fire is commemorated on a plaque on the police building. The Attic style

Attic style

In classical architecture, the term attic refers to a story or low wall above the cornice of a classical façade. This usage originated in the 17th century from the use of Attica style pilasters as adornments on the top story's façade...

 statues, which had stood on the pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s, are now in the Pötzleinsdorfer Schlosspark.

Sources

Most of the information in this article is taken from the German Wikipedia article.

See also

• The novel inspired by the Ringtheater fire, My Heart Was Awake at: http://myheartwasawake.blogspot.com/